Freedom and Rebellion
by Saoirse agus amach
Summary: Bellatrix Lestrange had a set of fraternal twins. Charlie Weasley finds himself falling for one of them and getting caught in the middle of a mystery that could either end or secure Voldemorts reign.
1. Prologue

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people. **

**I wrote this because, being summer, I actually have time to write now, and also because there is a severe lack of decent Charlie Weasely centered fics out there. This first chapter is really just a rough preview. Let me know what you think. **

Bellatrix Lestrange went into labor on New Years Eve. She refused the aid of a mediwizard and only permitted her sister, Narcissa to be in the room with her. Outside of the room, Rodolphus Lestrange paced impatiently. At 11:52 pm Narcissa handed Bellatrix a tiny, raven-haired baby, much to both sisters surprise, at exactly 12:01am a second baby followed. Rodolphus hurried off to inform their Dark Lord of the birth of Bellatrix's twins. He told his master that Bellatrix gave birth to fraternal twins, a boy and a girl. In celebration, five death-eaters hunted down and killed Gideon and Fabian Prewett; Bellatrix laughed for days because of that.

After several days, Bellatrix decided to name her son Orion Pollux Black-Lestrange and her daughter Nyx Druella Lestrange, no one dared ask her why she hyphenated her sons name, but Narcissa knew that it was Bellatrix's way of pointing out to Rodolphus that these were HER children.

The twins grew up rather quickly. They got into trouble often, although their punishments usually included a stay in the dungeon/prison of their mother's house. They delighted in the many friends that their parents had over, especially Severus Snape who would often bring them sweets. The sight of their parents covering their faces with white masks before disapparating was most they ever saw of either Bellatrix or Rodolphus.

On Halloween of the twins ninth year they woke up to hear frantic running and screams outside their bedroom. They could only hear small portions of what was being said. "Yes. The Potters!" "The Dark Lord is dead?" one more scream, this one from their mother, "Peter Pettigrew!" before someone blasted their door of its hinges and their parents along with their Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Lucius came into the room.

Orion and Nyx spent the next seven years with the Malfoys. They both cared for their baby cousin, Draco, as if he was their own brother. They attended Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizadry. Orion found the Malfoys less friendly after he was sorted into the Gryffindor house, and Nyx resented the sorting hat for placing her in Slytherin; as far from her brother as possible. When they turned sixteen, Orion ran away from the Malfoys and his name was blasted off the family tree, Nyx's name followed soon after when she humiliated her family for refusing to a marriage proposal from Etienne Zabini. After this, the Malfoys covered up quite well that they had a niece or nephew. Very few remembered the Lestrange twins, but upon her escape from prison their mother began a frantic search for them. The search ended in bloodshed.


	2. Lind na Fola

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people.**

**A note on the timeline: I would like to point out that I am throwing the canon timeline completely out the window and then stamping on it. For example, the Prewett's died the same year Voldemort was defeated, I have them dying nine years prior. The story takes place the summer between Harry's fourth and fifth years. The Order of the Phoenix is starting, but not staying at Grimmauld place yet. Basically, this story is as non-canon as it gets. I am rejecting J.K.'s reality and replacing it with my own. **

Professor Albus Dumbledore was a very patient individual. He was currently waiting on a young man who was already a half hour late for his requested appointment. While most people would have given up and left by now, Albus simply waited. It was not only his patience, but his curiosity that made him wait. He had never spoken to this man before, although he had attended Hogwarts a few year ago. Albus tried to remember Orion Black-Lestrange, but could only conjure a few fuzzy memories. Orion had been a quiet boy, he had few friends and spent most of his time with his Slytherin sister. Dumbledore remembered being surprised that with his last names Orion had been sorted into Gryffindor. He could remember expecting another version of the rebellious Sirius Black, but Orion was very different from his older cousin. He had done just well enough to pass his classes, but never did anything quite so well -- or so bad -- as to attract attention. That was until he dropped out of school in his sixth year, but he had disappeared before Albus had a chance to catch up and talk to him.

His sister, Nyx, had been the exact opposite. Albus had spoken to her on a number of occasions and was torn between the disturbing resemblance to her mother -- in both attitude and looks -- and an affinity for her entirely unique and generally good-hearted personality. Nyx was the seeker on the Slytherin quidditch team and had been a great rival to Charlie Weasely. She was loud, boisterous, vain, and determined. She possessed all the qualities of a member of Slytherin house, but never quite fit in there. Unlike the rest of her house, Nyx never taunted the muggle-borns or half-bloods, she never bullied those weaker than her, in fact her many detentions usually sprang from her defending someone from a member of her own house.

Albus ran through these thoughts all the while wondering exactly what it could be that Orion wanted to talk to him about when he heard a knock on his door. "Enter" he called out.

The sight that greeted him was not at all the sixteen year old boy he remembered. Standing in front of him was a tall, muscular man. He had longish jet black hair, rather pale skin, and shocking blue eyes. Albus was reminded of Sirius and other members of the Black family he had taught and known.

"Have a seat, Orion." Dumbledore motioned to a chair in front of his desk.

"Thank you, Professor." Orion sat down nervously. "I, um, guess you're wondering exactly why I asked to meet with you?"

"The question had crossed my mind. Although I have also recently been wondering about things that start with the letter Q."

Orion looked skeptically at Dumbledore, no doubt wondering if he was joking, or just plain mad. "Right, well, you see. Severus Snape once told me that if I or my sister, Nyx, you remember her?" Albus nodded. "Right, that if I or Nyx were ever in really serious trouble, like in over our heads, or about to die, or something, that you would be our best bet for help."

"Ah, Severus told you that did he?"

"Yes sir, well, not quite like that. He made it sound much better."

"And are you and Nyx in trouble?" Albus leaned towards Orion, who squirmed in his chair.

"Not yet sir. We will be though. You see, our parents were, well, I guess they still are, Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange." Orion paused for a moment, waiting for a reaction from Albus. The headmaster nodded, "I suppose the two of your are concerned about their break out and are looking for protection?"

A streak of what looked like annoyance flashed across Orion's face. "No sir, we're not afraid of them. And for the record, Nyx has no idea I'm here. She'd probably wind up in Azkaban herself if she knew what I'm planning on doing."

"Very well, that's not the first time I've been wrong. What is it you need?"

"It's not what I need sir." Orion stood and began to pace the room, "It's what you need. At least, I think you need it. A part of me hopes you don't, but really, I should have told you years ago." Orion was more speaking to himself now and Albus could tell he was becoming more nervous and agitated. He stood up and stopped the man mid stride by placing one hand on each of his shoulders. Albus looked Orion in the eye and was for one brief, terrifying moment reminded of another handsome young man that had stood in this office. He quickly shook that thought away.

"Orion, please, calm down and tell me what is going on." Albus released him and stepped back a few feet. Orion tugged at his hair and chewed his lip for a few seconds, Dumbledore could tell he was struggling with what he was about to say. Finally, Orion looked at Albus.

"Our mother is after us. Not because she missed us or anything, that woman always hated us." Orion paused for a minute, his face momentarily contorted with rage. "She wants us because of what we are, what I can do." He stopped again, this time looking anguished.

"Go on." Albus pleaded with him. Orion began pacing and tugging his hair again.

"You know, I always fought against myself. I begged the sorting hat to put me into Gryffindor, I didn't WANT to be evil. However, I suppose blood is blood, and when one's blood is as bad as mine, there is no escape. You see, professor I have not only my parents cursed pure-blood blood in my veins, but something else. Something that no person should have, something that no mother other than Bellatrix Lestrange would ever permit to enter her child."

Orion was pacing more furiously now, he resembled a caged lion. Suddenly, he ran into the corner of the professors desk and slid onto the floor, his back resting against the desk, and his face in his hands. Albus kneeled next to him and placed one hand on his back, "Orion, please, what is it you have in you?"

Orion looked up at Dumbledore with a tear-stained face, "The Dark Lord's blood."

Dumbledore gasped.


	3. Fire and Ice

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people.**

**Yay, we finally get to see Charlie! **

**So I realized AFTER I had this written that the rest of the world didn't know about Voldemorts return until after the skirmish in the Department of Mysteries. Well, let's just pretend that most people believed Harry and Dumbledore and some loyal reporter wrote about you-know-who's return in the Daily Prophet after **

**Please please please review! **

"Alright boys, keep your eyes open. This Vipertooth could be hiding anywhere. Oi! Princess, you doing okay over there?"

Nyx Lestrange rolled her eyes at her boss, but replied all the same, "Right as rain, Mac!" Princess, sweetheart, girlie, when you were one of only three females in a profession people rarely called you by your name. However, the job was worth the taunts. Nyx loved the danger, the adventure, the pure adrenaline that accompanied dragon wrangling. Sure you never knew where your next job would be, so settling down and making ties was pretty much a lost cause, but who needed a home anyway? Yes, the men were hard on her, either by taunts or by not expecting her to be as strong as them, even though Nyx had proven time and again that she could do everything they could - and she could do it wearing stilettos.

Currently, her team was backpacking through a Peruvian rainforest (no stilettos this trip!) looking for a Vipertooth that had just destroyed an entire village and eaten four people. The Ministry was going to have fun covering that up. Normally, the wranglers were told to capture the dragons and take them to the preserve in Romania, but they had been ordered to put this dragon down as it had already escaped their team once.

The five-man team had fanned out and were combing a large area of forest looking for the 15ft monster. Unfortunately, this particular breed was exceptional at hiding from humans. Nyx could feel her every nerve standing at attention, her body was getting ready to go into fight or flight mode at a moment's notice, the former usually won. Behind her she heard the snap of a twig and could faintly make out heavy breathing that did not belong to a human. The dragon was marking her, no doubt looking for dessert. Nyx stayed calm but quickened her pace. She needed to get away from the beast in order to get the signal to Mac that she found the dragon. She was just about to send up the red sparks from her wand when she heard the roar and out of the corner of her eye saw a flash of fire. The other members of her team started running towards her, but they would be little help, the Vipertooth was about 20ft away from her and getting closer. She aimed her wand and said the curse that would kill the dragon at the same time she saw a large jaw descend on her and felt a blinding pain in her leg. Then everything went black.

* * *

For a moment Nyx thought she was looking at the dragon's fire, except is was oddly shaped and she felt no heat. In fact, she felt strangely cool, she couldn't even feel the humidity of the rainforest.

"W-where..." She tried to talk but her tongue felt heavy.

"Don't try to talk yet, Lestrange. Let me get this out of your way." Nyx recognized the voice immediately. It was the voice of her arch-rival and the one man in the field that who she truly felt intimidated by: Charlie Weasely.

She felt something get taken out of her mouth and a thin gauze was removed from her eyes. She giggled to herself when she realized she had mistaken Charlie's hair for fire. He helped her sit up.

"What are _you _doing in Peru?" She asked him pointedly, in the coldest voice she could muster. He laughed as he put away the gauze and the metal thing used to hold her tongue down, it occurred to Nyx that she must have been trying to bite her tongue.

"First of all, you wake up with your tongue depressed, a bandage on your head, and your leg in complete disrepair and all that concerns you is that I have deigned to leave Romania? Why Miss Lestrange, I'm quite flattered." Charlie smirked at her. She opened her mouth to say something but he held up his hand to her mouth and continued, "Second, and I'm sorry to disappoint you, I am not in Peru. I am in Romania, as are you. The Vipertooth bit your leg and Mac disapparated you over here since we have the largest supply of antidotes."

That explained the cold. "What happened? Where's Mac and the rest of guys? Why are you, specifically, treating me?" There was something Charlie wasn't telling her. He was a dragon keeper, not a healer. Then something he said struck her quite suddenly, "Wait! My leg? What's wrong with my leg!" She hurriedly tried to force the blankets off to examine her limb, but was overcome by dizziness and had to lay back.

"It's going to be fine."Charlie reassured her and straightened her bed covers. Damn him, why did he always insist on being so good? "We got the antidote in on time. It's just going to take a while to be fully healed. You're not supposed to go dragon chasing for a bit." Nyx groaned, that meant staying in one place for more than a week, she hated that. Charlie continued, "Mac went back to help the team clean things up in Peru. Apparently you made the dragon sort of explode so muggles in the area have been finding claws and teeth and scales all over the place. I'm treating you because, um, there's really no one else. After that write up in the _Prophet_ all the healer's have returned home to be with their families. I'm the only keeper with more than a basic knowledge of antidotes."

"What write up? Is the Sanctuary closing or something?"

"Blimey, you wranglers DO keep yourselves off from the world. I can't believe you haven't seen this." Charlie walked out of Nyx's field of vision and returned with a copy of the wizarding newspaper.

What Nyx saw nearly made her pass out again. There was a picture of Albus Dumbledore, a boy with messy hair and glasses, and a separate picture of handsome older teenage boy. The headline read:

**Terror at the Triwizard Tournament: One student dead, and Harry Potter witnesses the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.**

Nyx grabbed Charlie's forearm and looked him straight in the eyes. She did not want anyone, especially Charlie Weasely, to see her this desperate, but she really had no choice, with a bum leg and all.

"Charlie, I know we don't get along," Charlie snorted at the understatement. "_BUT_", Nyx pressed on, "I need you to help me find my brother. Many people will die if we don't get to him before the Dark Lord."


	4. Blood and Sweat

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people.**

**Thank you for the reviews and favorite story/story alert notifications. I love constructive criticism so please bring it on. **

**Sorry the chapters are kind of short. I tend to write that way but I am forcing myself to attempt the lengthen them. **

Charlie couldn't believe himself. Of all the places to be on a Saturday night the basement of an abandoned church in Sibiu was not one he cared for. Even less enjoyable than the damp old building was the company. For a moment back on the dragon reserve Charlie had thought that perhaps Nyx had some redeeming quality in her; she was genuinely concerned about her brother. However, the trip from Deva had brought back out the cold, heartless she-devil that Charlie remembered from Hogwarts. Nyx refused to answer any of his questions about WHY it was so important to find the other Lestrange or what any of this had to do with the return of you-know-who. Any time he asked, she would simply glare at him, or ask if he was dropped on his head as a child which would explain why he didn't remember her telling him it was none of his business.

Despite these complaints of her personality Charlie could not help but notice other aspects of Nyx. Like the way her legs looked in a tight pair of jeans and high heeled boots (how she managed to walk in them with a damaged leg was beyond him), or the way her black tank top was just low enough to see the beginning of a promising line of cleavage, or the way the candles flickered across her dark hair and pale face giving her an aura of mystery and sensuality that Charlie just could not deny. Hey, he was only a man, and there are very few women in the dragon business.

"Ah-ha!" The sudden explanation from Nyx brought Charlie out of his daze.

"Find something?" He asked her and walked to the corner of the room where she was sitting on an ancient chair surrounded with dusty books.

"No, nothing at all, just felt like breaking the silence." Nyx's voice was dripping with sarcasm. Charlie glared at her, she rolled her eyes and pointed her lighted wand tip towards an old piece of parchment in order for him to see better. "It's a deed and map. Given to the Lestrange family centuries ago for a large tract of land in southern France."

"And how did it get here?"

"I hid it here when I came to study on the reserve after Hogwarts. I stole it from the Malfoys just before I ran away and have been hiding it ever since. The problem was I couldn't remember if I had put it in a copy of the _Divine Comedy_ or _Faust_, but I knew it was here. This is where Orion will have gone to hide. He has a map as well, you can only reach the land if you have the map, else you could be walking on the property forever and never actually see any of the inhabitants. Not even my parents will be able to find him there."

"Your parents?" Charlie had a suspicion that he knew what was coming, but wanted to try and get Nyx to tell him as much as possible; this was turning into something that Dumbledore might want to hear.

"Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange." Nyx paused and got up from the chair so she was standing facing Charlie. "You might have heard of them. Got themselves locked up in Azkaban for torturing some poor Auror and his wife. They were... are... deatheaters." Nyx began to clutch the arm of the chair so hard that her knuckles turned white. "I expect they've been let out by their master and are on their way to Malfoy manor to collect us. They are no doubt expecting to walk in and find two deatheaters-in-training waiting for orders. I wish I could be there to see what dear old mum does to Narcissa and Lucius when she learns they let Orion and I slip through their fingers. Of course then she'll be after us, Orion mostly. Her only use for me is a toy with which to enhance her pureblood connections by making a respectable marriage. So much for that!" Nyx pounded her fist on the arm and grinned.

Charlie decided to push his luck, "But you said at the reserve we had to get to Orion before You-Know-Who. Why?"

Nyx looked up at him through a curtain of black hair, "Can't say. You'll just have to trust me on that point. Suffice it to say that-" But Charlie never learned what to suffice because at that moment Nyx doubled over and clutched her left forearm. She let out a cry of pain and crumpled to the floor, all the while holding her left arm. Charlie quickly knelt on the ground by her, attempting to calm the now panicking woman down. At first, he thought that it might have been more damage from the dragon, but then she shifted her right arm enough to see the forearm and Charlie stared in shock at what he was seeing. There, on the skin of her forearm an invisible knife was carving the shape of a skull with a snake coming out of it, it was the Dark Mark.

Within a minute the carving stopped, but Nyx's arm continued to bleed freely. Charlie removed his t-shirt and held it to the mark in an effort to stop the blood. Nyx was looking very pale and about to pass out. "I've got to get you out of here Lestrange." Charlie said more to himself than Nyx.

But where to go? The reserve wasn't safe, by now Mac had published his report to the Ministry stating he had left Nyx in Charlie's care which meant anyone looking for her may already be there. That also meant he would have to do long-distance/double apparition. He could hardly do short distance single apparition! And still, _where to go?_ He couldn't apparate into Hogwarts, and Nyx, not being a member of the Order of the Phoenix wouldn't be able to get into the newest safe house. Then the answer came to Charlie. The one place he could always go to when he was in trouble. He folded the deed and map and placed them in his pockets. Then he gathered Nyx and held her as close as he possibly could to himself, said a quick prayer to any deity that might be listening, and thought as hard as he could about a multi-level home outside of Ottery St. Catchpole and hoped the most difficult disappartion had had ever attempted would end in succes.

* * *

The residents of the Burrow were quite used to surprises. This was mainly thanks to the efforts of the fourth oldest inhabitants, the twins Fred and George. Sudden fireworks, explosions, bangs, yells, and screams of laughter happened on a near daily basis. But nothing could have prepared the Weasely family for the sight of their second oldest son and brother suddenly appearing on their table at breakfast shirtless, and clutching to a woman.

The first reaction of each person was a gaping mouth and wide eyes. The second reaction varied according to the individual. Ginny, the youngest, giggled at what she thought was perhaps another joke of the twins. Ron turned a bright red when he assumed what sort of activity his brother must have been about to engage in to have arrived shirtless. The twins simultaneously stood on their chairs and began clapping and cheering for their brother. Percy left the room in disgust, some eggs had spilled on his new work clothes.

Bill was the first to notice the blood and that Charlie and the woman had been knocked out during the disapparition. He yelled at the twins to shut up and ordered his siblings out of the kitchen. They obeyed out of shock more than anything, Bill rarely yelled.

Once his brothers and sister were gone he gently removed the woman from Charlie and laid her on the floor. Mr. and Mrs. Weasely were both attempting to wake up Charlie. Mrs. Weasely was starting to panic when Charlie finally opened his eyes. "Mum, Dad?" He asked groggily. Then sat up suddenly, his back had bits of toast sticking to it.

"Charlie, are you alright?" Arthur Weasley examined his son for any signs of having been splinched.

"I'm fine dad." He pushed himself off the table, the toast falling off his back as he did so. "Bill, how is she? Check her arm, has it stopped bleeding?" Charlie crouched beside his brother who was examining Nyx.

"All this blood feels dry, but I'm afraid to take away the cloth. She's out cold, but breathing. Char, what _the hell_ is going on? What are doing with _Nyx Lestrange?_" Bill looked at his Charlie in desperation as their parents also gathered around Nyx.

"It's sort of a long story. Let me see her arm." Charlie very carefully held Nyx's left arm and winced as he felt the dried blood coming off of her skin when he removed his shirt. Luckily, the wound had stopped bleeding.

Molly, Arthur, and Bill all gasped at the sight of the bloody Dark Mark. Charlie looked up at his parents imploringly, "I _need_ to get her to Dumbledore."


	5. Fear and Loathing

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people.**

**Sorry for the delay for those of you reading this. Time just got away from me. I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, it's not very exciting, but I needed to get the plot moving on. Don't worry, things will get much more interesting in the next chapter. **

**I'm not one of those writers that demands reviews in order to finish a story, but they are really nice confidence boosters. Please Please Please review! Whether it's criticisms, ideas, praises, I don't care. I just like hearing from my audience. **

Narcissa Malfoy rarely cowered before anyone, but the one person that could leave her simpering and frightened was her dear sister, Bellatrix. Narcissa knew the moment she heard that Bella was out of prison she would be coming for the twins; and now the moment had come.

"You did WHAT?" Bellatrix's wild eyes were trained on her younger sister. They were in the a drawing room of Malfoy manor and Bellatrix had just seen the burn marks where her children's names should have been on the family tree tapestry.

"I-I didn't have a choice Bellatrix. _Please_! I tried very hard, as did Lucius. But Orion refused to act accordingly. He made friends with mudbloods and blood traitors, he refused to learn the dark arts! After he ran, I had no choice! Think, please! What would mother have done? It's just like with Andromeda! Or Sirius! Remember, Walburga had such plans for him!" Narcissa was hysterical and frightened. She had sent Draco away as soon as she received word Bellatrix was coming over. Lucius was still at work.

"How dare you! How dare you compare MY SON to those pathetic blood traitors! Do you have any idea what he is? YOU and that husband of yours should have been able to control him! You should have done whatever necessary to keep him from THAT lot!" Bellatrix shot red sparks out of her wand at Narcissa, who slumped against the wall.

Rodolphus entered the room, he had been waiting outside as Bellatrix had told him to. "And what about our daughter, Narcissa? Surely not BOTH of your charges chose the path of your former sister?" Rodolphus fixed a cold eye on his sister-in-law and Narcissa briefly understood why Bella had chosen to marry him; he was as cruel as she.

"No, no." Narcissa slowly got to her feet, "Nyx was a good child. She was in Slytherin, received perfect marks, she was the perfect pureblood."

"Then _where_ is she?" Rodolphus asked menacingly as he pointed his wand at Narcissa.

"She seemed to get along well with Etienne Zabini, a good pureblood boy, he was a year older than her. So his mother and Lucius agreed that the two should be married. She was sixteen and he was seventeen. We informed them that they would be wed upon Nyx's graduation from Hogwarts. She became furious - she actually reminded me quite a bit of you, Bellatrix - she hexed Etienne and his mother and yelled that Lucius and I had no business finding a husband for her as we were not her parents. Then she stormed out. Well, what was I to do? The Zabini's were right there! I had to save face, so I blasted her name off. She returned to Hogwarts for her seventh year but neither Lucius nor I have heard from her."

The Lestrange's now had Narcissa cornered with their wands pointed at her. "And Orion?" Bellatrix asked in little more than a whisper, "Come now 'Cissy, where is my darling boy?"

"I'm sorry Bella, I don't know." Narcissa replied through tears and gasped when Bellatrix aimed her wand closer to her. "But, but perhaps..." Narcissa paused.

"Go on Narcissa." Rodolphus goaded her.

"You may check with Severus. Both the twins were rather fond of him. They always used him as a sort of confidante, they- they may have told him something."

Bellatrix lowered her wand and motioned for her husband to the same. The couple began to walk out, but Bellatrix turned to Narcissa before leaving and said ominously, "Blood for blood sister. You took my son, if I don't find him, and if he's not just as I want him to be, I WILL take your son as recompense."

* * *

For the second time in a matter of days, Nyx found herself waking up not knowing where she was or how she got there. It was bit like that Christmas she had gone on binge of Ogden's firewhiskey and had somehow awoken in Winnepeg, Canada. This time, she was laying on a rather fluffy sofa and covered in a scratchy, knitted blanket. The room around her had looks of a place much lived in and not particularly fussed over cleanliness wise. Their was a faint smell of eggs and coffee in the air.

"Oh good, you're up!" Nyx looked over to source of the overly cheerful voice.

"Weasley!" She sat up using the arm of the sofa as a back rest and scowling at Charlie who was accompanied by someone Nyx vaguely recognized as his brother, but she couldn't remember his name. "What did you do? Where the HELL am I?" Nyx made to get up so she could start pacing and yelling at Charlie but was overcome with nausea and sat back. "And WHY is it I'm keep waking up injured with YOU next to me!" She crossed her arms and glared.

"I will have you know I just saved your life! For the second time in a week!" Charlie replied angrily, his patience with Nyx was wearing thin, no matter how attractive she was. "I should think that you would be thanking me instead of verbally attacking me every time you see me! Remember YOU asked for MY help. Which I gave quite willingly despite not being told ANYTHING! And anther thing you bi-"

"Charlie." Bill cut his brother off sharply. "Go get some water."

"Wha-" Charlie began to protest but was cut off by another insistent "Go" from Bill.

He made sure Charlie was out of the room before turning to Nyx. "Charlie said you collapsed in Romania after that-" Bill pointed to the mark on her arm, "appeared. He wrapped his shirt around it to staunch the bleeding and disapparated here."

"Where is _here?_" Nyx asked tersely.

"Our family home. Fondly referred to as the Burrow." Bill caught Nyx looking around the room with disdain and felt anger boil inside him. No one insulted his family or their home.

"It's um, cute." Nyx looked back to Bill who decided that he did not like this woman one bit.

"Indeed." He continued on despite his anger, "Our mum and dad helped revive Charlie and you - the disapparition knocked you both out - now mum's dealing with our younger siblings and dad's gone to find Dumbledore."

Charlie walked back into the room holding a glass of water. "Ya, and once Dumbledore gets here you can go with him, Lestrange and forget all about your _terrible_ ordeal with Charlie Weasley." Charlie sneered and looked out the window "Oh look, here they come already."

Nyx and Bill both looked up and sure enough Arthur and Professor Dumbledore were walking up to the house. Molly came quickly down the stairs where she had been fighting a losing battle in trying to keep her younger children in their rooms. Bill and Charlie both stood up when their father and former headmaster entered the room, Nyx remained sitting and scowling with her arms crossed.

"Professor Dumbledore sir! Shall I make some tea?" Molly was slightly flustered by the professors presence, but he simply smiled at her and shook his head, "No, no Molly. I am afraid this visit will be dreadfully brief. I wanted to inform you and Arthur that I have secured a permanent headquarters for the Order. If it agreeable to you, I should like for your family - along with Miss Granger - to move in in two weeks time."

"Of course sir! We'll be ready. Will Harry...?" Molly wasn't quite sure how to finish the question.

"Yes, Harry will be joining your family, but later on in the summer. Now to our distraught young lady here." Dumbledore turned his attention to Nyx whose only acknowledgement of the headmaster was to raise her eyebrow and purse her lips. "You will be pleased to know Miss Lestrange that your brother is safe and is eager to be reunited with you."

The mention of Orion broke the hard shell Nyx was trying to hide in. She slowly stood up, still a bit dizzy, and used Charlie's shoulder for support. Charlie shivered slightly at the contact but then remembered that he was currently focusing his attention on loathing Nyx.

"Orion?" Nyx began in a soft, pleading tone. "You've seen him? What did he say? Where is he?" Nyx was near tears and dug her hand deeper into Charlie's shoulder.

"He sought me out and told me everything. I can take you to him, the quickest way will be via side-along apparition, don't worry, I have much more experience than Mr. Weasley. Although, Charlie, I should like to commend you, I know that was no simple task for one who prefers broom travel as much as you."

"Thank you, professor." Charlie inclined his head toward Dumbledore and wrestled his shoulder free from Nyx's grasp. When he looked over at her to make sure she didn't collapse he noticed she had turned pale white and was looking at Dumbledore with wide, frightened eyes.

"Everything?" Nyx's voice was barely higher than a whisper. "He-he told you _everything?"_

"Yes, Nyx. Everything." Albus kept his voice even and light, but there was an obvious rise in the tension of the room.

"I am going to _murder_ him." Nyx groaned into her left hand which was now holding her forehead.

"I think that perhaps you should reserve that act until after you have heard his side of the story. Now, shall we go?" Dumbledore offered Nyx his arm in a gentlemanly fashion, she took it hesitantly. "Molly, Arthur, Bill, Charlie." Albus nodded to the four Weasleys before leading Nyx out the door.

_Bill! That's Charlie's brother's name!_

Just before disapparating Nyx heard two identical voices yell down a flight of stairs, "What the bloody hell was that all about?"


	6. Memories and Regrets

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people.**

**Again, sorry for the delay. Again please review!**

Nyx felt the familiar pressure of disapparating before appearing in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts. She had been in this office on multiple occasions while attending Hogwarts, and each time she was awed and a little intimidated by the space. She saw in a corner of the room, among the delicate silver instruments, her brother with his back turned to her. The casual observer might think that he hadn't heard Nyx and Dumbledore enter the office, Orion did not even flinch when he heard the loud pop that just preceded their entrance. Nyx, however, knew her brother was steeling himself against her inevitable tantrum.

Nyx decided to surprise him, "Rion?" She spoke in a soft voice usually reserved only for the most somber of times. It worked, and her twin finally turned to face her. Their identical ice blue eyes met and for a few moments they silently communicated about a million different things. After some time, Orion turned to the headmaster, "Okay," he seemed reluctant to look Dumbledore in the eye. "I told you everything I know, but now with Nyx here, we can tell you the whole story. Or, what we know of the whole story."

Nyx stepped forward, "Actually brother, I would much rather we show him." She raised her blackthorn wand to her head and drew out a silvery not-quite-liquid-or-gas substance and deposited the memory into Albus' pensieve, Orion nodded and repeated the gesture with his identical wand. Albus joined the twins at the basin and the three of them were thrown into the memory.

* * *

Nyx, Orion, and Dumbledore watched as a small girl of about 5 or 6 tip toed down a hallway past the glaring faces of her ancestors portraits. "You KNOW you shouldn't be down here, Miss Lestrange." One called out to her. "Oh be quiet Phineas!" The girl responded. She stopped at a large door that was partly ajar, her long black hair covered her face like a curtain as she peered in. The black dress she wore and the red ribbon ties around her waist made soft swishing sounds as she adjusted herself to be able to see. She accidently bumped the door which made a loud creek as it opened further. Within a matter of seconds the door was pushed completely open from the inside, little Nyx was knocked to the floor and a woman of terrible beauty stood at the entryway.

The woman turned her eyes to the girl who now seemed to be attempting to curl within herself. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOWN THIS HALL? YOU HORRIBLE LITTLE GIRL! GET OFF THE FLOOR NOW! WHAT ARE YOU? SOME KIND OF FILTHY SQUIB GROVELING DOWN THERE?" The woman was screaming at the top of her lungs. A few of the portraits nodded their heads in approval. Nyx quickly got to her feet and looked up at the woman.

"I-I'm sorry Mother. I was only trying to see you, Aunt Narcissa said the Dark Lord was sending you away and I only wanted to say goodbye." The small girl's eyes started to water, but she would not let any tears fall.

Bellatrix looked at her daughter with little better than utter disgust on her face. "If I want to see you, I will send for you. As it is, I was going to your and your brother's room anyway to fetch him. Orion is to accompany on my journey. You are allowed to walk with me to your brother." Bellatrix took off down the hallway without checking to see if Nyx would follow. She did and eventually caught up to her mother.

"Why does Orion get to go with you?" She looked up at Bellatrix hopefully, but only received a harsh 'Don't as questions' as an answer.

The grown up Nyx, as well as Orion and Albus, followed the the mother and daughter through the winding manor house. The floors were a dark mahogany and the walls were decorated with an assortment of family portraits (some showing ancestors, others Bellatrix and/or Rodolphus, and a very small few contained Orion and Nyx as babies or toddlers), also among the portraits were violent images of people (muggles and half-borns, no doubt) being tortured or killed. The entire house was very dark, the twins walked so closely together their shoulders touched, as if they could shield one another from the memory of their childhood home.

At last they came to a set of doors which Bellatrix opened to reveal a spacious sitting room. In the center of which, sat the 5 or 6 year old version of Orion, looking at a book. He stood when he noticed the entrance of his mother and sister. "Mother." He bowed his head to her, and then shot a questioning look to his twin, who responded only with a slight shrug of her small shoulders.

"Such a good, respectful boy." Bellatrix walked to her son and patted him on the head in very much the same way someone might pat a beloved family pet. "Orion, you have been chosen by the Dark Lord for something great. You and I and your father will be going to Him today. I want you in front of the large fireplace downstairs in twenty minutes."

"Will Nyx be coming too?" The boy kept his tone neutral.

"The Dark Lord has no interest in her." Was Bellatrix's only response before sweeping out of the room.

The memory blurred and suddenly the three were in a heavily wooded area. They could see two adult figures in heavy black cloaks and one much smaller figure also cloaked in black. One adult turned to the other.

"You are sure you got his directions correct, Bellatrix?"

"Of course I'm sure Rodolphus, what do you take me for?"

"Well then _where is he?_ What could possibly cause him to run late?"

"Lord Voldemort does no 'run late', Lestrange." A high, cold, voice joined the conversation, and a very tall man entered the scene. "I arrive precisely when I mean to."

"My Lord!" Bellatrix and Rodolphus said at the same time and bowed to their master.

"This is the boy, then?" Voldemort turned his attention to Orion, who attempted to hide behind his father, Rodolphus pushed him forward.

"Yes, my lord this is our son. Orion Pollux Black-Lestrange." Rodophus set his hands on Orion's shoulders.

"Tell me, Bellatrix, why did you give him your maiden name?" Voldemort turned his gaze from the boy to his mother.

"I wished to re-establish the name. I'm quite proud of my ancestry, but the name has fallen into shame by the last two male Black heirs. Orion will restore the family Black to it's former purity, and so rectify the deeds of the blood-traitor Sirius and his coward brother."

"I see." Voldemort returned his gaze to Orion. "Bellatrix, you and your husband may leave now. Your son will be returned within the hour."

At that point the memory grew fuzzy. Albus could tell it had been tampered with. They saw Voldemort take a silver knife from his robes and cut himself on the arm, allowing his blood to drip into a phial of black liquid. The young Orion drank the liquid then passed out and the memory once again shifted to the Lestrange manor and the younger version of Nyx.

She was sitting on a chair with her face in her hands. Directly opposite her, kneeling so he could see her face was none other than Severus Snape. He had one hand on her shoulder and looked very grim. "Nyx, _moya devochka, _you need to listen to me."

Both the memory and real Nyx looked up at Snape's nickname for her. _My little girl_, said in a different language every time.

Memory Snape continued, "Your brother is going to come back different. He isn't going to be the same Orion you remember. You need to protect him, okay?"

"From what?" The little girl's large blue eyes widened and Snape's face further contorted into concern.

"From himself. Listen, you are not going to see me for a while so I want you to listen very carefully to this part." Little Nyx sat up straighter in her chair and Severus nearly smiled, "There is something bad in your brother now. You need to remind him who he is. I know you don't understand this now, but trust me. There's going to come a day when you are both older when things are going to get very dark. You will know the day when it comes, and when it does come I want you and Orion to go to Albus Dumbledore. _Do not mention this to anyone, not even myself, until that day comes."_

"I don't understand!" Little Nyx seemed on the verge of tears, but again refused to let them fall.

"I know you don't. Just trust me." Severus seemed about to say more but there was the familiar sound of someone apparating coming from the front garden. "I have to go _ma petite_, keep this talk our little secret." With a flourish of his black robes Severus slipped out the back and disappeared.

* * *

The real Nyx, Orion, and Albus were once again standing in Dumbledore's office. The memories were done. Orion rounded on his sister, "Severus knew! I can't believe you didn't tell me this before!"

Nyx replied with equal vehemence, "You heard me promise! I trust Snape, I figured he had a reason for not wanting me to tell anyone!"

Albus stepped between the twins, who now had their wands out and pointed at each other_. "_I apologize to both of you, but I'm afraid there is still a great deal I do not understand. Lower your wands and have a seat." Albus conjured two arm chairs for the twins, who sat reluctantly.

"We assume it was the Dark Lord who tampered with my memory." Orion began, "I had never seen Nyx's memory with Severus before. She always insisted she knew more than me about my, er, _condition."_

"What exactly is the nature of your condition? I would also like to remark that you seem to have left a great deal out during our first conversation, it is imperative I know everything you know if I am in any way to help you."

"Sorry." Orion paused and looked at Albus who inclined his head as a signal for the young man to continue. "I'm a parselmouth, for one. I kept it secret while here. I didn't want anyone thinking I was the heir of Slytherin or something. I'm also a natural legilimens."

"These gifts are uncommon but not unheard of." Dumbledore put his fingers together.

"There's more." Nyx said just barely over a whisper. "Tell him 'Ri."

"Sometimes, and I don't mean it to happen! But sometimes I lose my temper. Bad, really, really bad. When that happens, things sort of die." The last part was barely audible.

All color left Albus' face, "I'm sorry, what do you mean?"

Orion seemed unable to speak anymore and sent a pleading look to his sister who responded for him. "I've seen it. His eyes go sort of red and then things get all cold and whatever is living around him dies. Flowers, trees, animals, I'm the only human he's been around when it's happened. We don't know if it's a freaky twin thing that he doesn't affect me, or if all humans are immune. And we _do not_ intend to test it."

"You said things go 'cold'?" Albus leaned closer to the twins.

Nyx nodded, "Yes, it feels like, like when a dementor is near. Only I've tried conjuring a patronus and it has no effect. Have you ever heard of anything like this?"

Albus shook his head, "Like many things with Voldemort," Nyx flinched at the name. "We are dealing with quite unheard of magic."

"Like an infant surviving the killing curse." Orion spoke up, Albus nodded.

"Precisely. I'll research this to the best of my ability, and I think I will also be having a conversation with my potions master. For now, we must assume both your parents and Voldemort - fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself my dear lady - are after you. We must get you to safety."

"We have land in France..." Nyx began but was cut off by the headmaster.

"I am aware of that. However, I would like you to be closer. There is a house in London in which resides a man who will be most excited to meet two rebels such as yourselves. That is, two people, who like him, decided to not be defined by their family name."

"Are you talking about Sirius Black?" Orion looked at the headmaster and for the first time that meeting Albus could see youth and excitement in the younger man's face.

* * *

**whoa! long chapter! worth the wait? **

**Here's a couple of links to pictures of who I imagine the twins to look like. I know they are too pretty to be real, but come on, they are BLACKS! That family if freaking gorgeous!**

**Orion: **

**Nyx: .com/2009_The_Unborn/2009_the_unborn_**

**Let me know if the links don't work or don't show up. I can send them to you. **


	7. Plans and Mistakes

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people.**

**AH! I'm so sorry my darlings! I did not abandon you! I have a very valid excuse this time; my brother and his wife just had their first baby! I'm an Auntie! Waylon Rhys was born on the 18th of June and he is the most perfect little baby you could ever imagine. **

**There is a little fowl language in this chapter.**

******Anyway, I hope you are enjoying the story, review review review!**

****Bill both hated and loved it when Charlie was home. Charlie was his closest brother and he loved having him under the same roof. Romania was really too far away, then again, so was Egypt. Despite this love, he hated having Charlie home for two reasons. Number one was his mum. After Charlie moved to Romania Molly made it her personal mission to find him a girl in England so he would move back. The plan had failed miserably, starting with Tonks. After five years, she was getting desperate and trying to set him up with anyone. Bill shuddered when he pictured Molly attempting to put Charlie and Hermione together.

The second reason Bill hated having Charlie home was his sleeping habits. The man had two modes, wide awake and tossing, or dead asleep and snoring. Neither mode was very conducive to Bill's sleep cycle. Tonight was mode one; wide awake and tossing and turning. That meant he had something on his mind.

"Would you shut up over there?" Bill said in a loud whisper. To his dismay, Charlie sat up and swung his legs over his cot so he was facing Bill's bed. That was Charlie-talk for 'I have something on my mind and need your big brotherly advice'.

"Ugh," Bill sat up too and faced the slightly younger man, "What is it?"

Charlie paused with his shoulders slumped and head in his hands before finally looking at his brother, "It's just, that was weird, right? That whole thing with Lestrange and Dumbledore. And you should have seen her in the library, Bill, I thought she was dead. I can't get that image out of my head. Then she's just, better? She seemed almost totally fine when she left with him. This was after having her leg mangled by a dragon, the dark mark carved into her arm, and-"

"And surviving your abysmal disapparting skills." Bill grinned.

"Exactly. It's weird." Charlie stopped talking, as if that explained everything.

"So, the girl is tough. She works with _dragons_! You know how much grit that takes. Why are you obsessing over her?" Bill raised an eyebrow and hoped it wasn't for the reason he was thinking.

"I'm not obsessing!" Charlie threw a pillow at Bill.

"Denial is not just a river in Egypt." Bill quoted their mother. "Now tell me what's really going on in that freaky Charlie head of yours."

Charlie laid back on his cot with his arms folded on his chest, but kept talking. "She's just so, so, _mysterious!_ I thought I had her pegged at Hogwarts. She was the Slytherin princess, Snape's favorite, a good seeker, she had the world. Then one day she just showed up at the preserve. You said she's tough, but you don't know the half of it. I've seen her do things that I wouldn't even risk. It's like she has a death wish. And she is always so conceited! So I figured she was just this cocky little bitch trying to prove something, but then in the past day she's totally blown that image to hell. She scared, Bill. I just think anything that has Nyx Lestrange scared should scare all of us. It kills me not knowing what it is."

"Well, she's with Dumbledore now. He'll get everything sorted out and then you can go back to hating and judging her in peace. For now, please go to sleep, we're moving to the order house in the morning, remember?"

Bill got back into his bed and pulled the covers around himself hoping that settled things. He didn't hear any snores, though, which meant Charlie was still thinking.

* * *

The next day was very hectic for the Weasley household. Hermione Granger arrived shortly after dawn, per instructions from Dumbledore, and now the whole family (minus Percy who had not come home from work the previous day after an argument with his father) was gathered in their sitting room waiting for something to happen. No one was sure exactly what, Dumbledore had simply said to wait. Someone knocked on the door and Arthur opened it to reveal a youngish bedraggled looking man.

"Professor Lupin!" Ron, Ginny, and the twins all let out the exclamation at the same time. The man in question smiled at all of them.

"Please, I am not your teacher anymore. It's Remus." He looked around, "Well everyone's ready to go then?"

"Yes, yes." Molly answered. "We're all here. Hermione too, although Harry's missing. I assume someone's gone to fetch him? Anyway, how are we getting to, well, wherever." She was quite flustered.

"The first time, you'll all be taking a portkey. Don't worry about your things, other order members will pick them up for you. As for Harry, well, Albus is keeping that rather secret. So then, here we are." Remus pulled an old cabbie hat from his robes and the Weasley's (with difficulty and much pushing) all placed at least one finger on it and were soon standing in a small grouping of trees.

Once everyone caught their bearings Remus cleared his throat, "This isn't the headquarters obviously. Here, you each need one of these," He passed out small slips of parchment to each of them, "Memorize that and then destroy it. Then follow me."

Charlie looked down at his paper, _The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at number 12 Grimmauld Place. _He memorized the parchment then set it on fire, Ron and Hermione asked him to do the same to theirs. Soon the group of red heads followed Lupin out of the trees and onto a busy sidewalk. They were clearly in London. A house appeared in between addresses 11 and 13. Lupin walked confidently in, the family followed but with less gusto.

The interior of the house was dimly lit by old fashioned gas lamps. It had the smell and feel of a place that had sat empty for a very long time. They were in a hallway and had the option to go straight forward, which would lead them to a set of double doors, or go up. There was a large staircase above them which appeared to house many landings.

"Well this is it." Lupin raised both arms part way. "Our host seems to be missing, probably gone to chase some cats." Only Hermione and Ron smiled at that, they were certain they knew who Lupin was referring to. "Anyway, you all can go fight over rooms. The first, second, and third landings have been set aside for you." Hermione, Ginny, Ron, and the twins all made a dash for the stairs. The older Weasley's followed Lupin through the double doors into a large kitchen. From a room on the right they could hear two male voices.

"Ya the Malfoys were real pissed when I became a Gryffindor. But it was nothing compared to what Nyx did. You know the fancy pureblood engagement parties?"

"Ah yes. I was forced to one or two of them. They usually ended with me hexing someone's hair a different color."

The second voice chuckled, "Ya well this one was for Nyx. She was supposed to marry Etienne Zabini, then at the party with both families all gathered around she gets up on this platform and insults nearly everyone there, then she turns to Zabini and says she would rather screw a troll than marry him."

The older sounding voice let out a bark like laugh and Lupin opened the door to reveal Sirius Black and Orion Black-Lestrange.

"Hey! You're all here!" Sirius got up from the chair he had been lazily sitting in. Orion followed him out of the room into the adjoining kitchen.

"Sirius Black." Molly looked frightened for a moment. "Oh dear, this is going to take a while to get used to."

Sirius grinned, "Don't worry about it Molly. Is Harry upstairs?" He added hopefully.

"No Padfoot, Dumbledore hasn't said when he's coming." It was Remus who answered.

"What about Nyx? Is she up there, or is she helping the others get your stuff?" Orion directed his question to Bill and Charlie. They were all in the same house at Hogwarts and had gotten along pretty well.

"Nyx?" Bill looked bewildered. "We haven't seen her since the day she left our house with Dumbledore. He said they were going to see you."

Now is was Orion who was confused, "They did see me. Then Dumbledore took us here. Nyx left last night to go see you. She said she had something important to talk to Charlie about, said it couldn't wait. So Dumbledore said she could go and then come back with you all this morning. Are you saying she didn't show up?"

"No, no one was at our house last night." Arthur answered, "How was she getting there?"

"She said she would apparate to Ottery St. Catchpole then walk." Orion looked scared now.

"Well then." Molly tried to sound hopeful, "Maybe she's just lost, or, or something." She failed.

"Ah shit!" Charlie banged his fist on the kitchen table.

"Charlie!" Molly attempted to reprimand him and failed, again.

"I'll go look for her." He didn't sound hopeful.

"I'll help." Bill and Orion spoke at the same time.

"Bill, you need to get to work. None of us can afford the suspicion of missing too many days." Arthur put a hand on his oldest son's shoulder.

"And Orion, Albus said you are not under any circumstances to leave the house." Remus looked pointedly at Orion who was looking mutinous.

"Remus and I will go. If we don't find her in an hour..." Charlie left off his sentence and looked at Remus who finished for him.

"We'll alert Dumbledore and other members to help."

* * *

Nyx awoke to find herself standing against a heavy brick wall with her wrists chained above her. She could see no visible bindings on her body, but nevertheless could not move away from the wall. She tried screaming for help, but no sound came out. From out of the shadows stepped a dark woman who pointed her wand at Nyx.

Nyx tried screaming again at the sight of Bellatrix, still nothing came out. Bellatrix brushed her wand down Nyx's face and stopped it just above her heart, she leaned in and whispered,

"My darling girl. What a beauty you've become."


	8. Benzin und Feuer part 1

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people.**

_At least it's me, Orion is fine. At least it's me, Orion is fine. _Nyx repeated the mantra over and over in her mind not just to calm her nerves but to open up her mind. Thinking of her twin allowed her thoughts to stay out of the tiny cell she was locked in. Her body was tired from the stream of curses directed at her for, how long? A few hours, days, weeks? Time was bleeding together. The heavy wooden door to the dudgeon creaked open and Nyx steeled her body automatically. The footsteps were heavier than her mother's, they definitely belonged to a man.

"Nyx." The deep, gravelly voice of Rodolphus Lestrange made her breath catch, this was the first time she had seen her father since she was nine years old. Nyx stood up and placed her hands on the bars in front of her, her bright blue eyes warily followed Rodlphus as he walked to her cage.

"Nyx," He repeated her name, and stopped in front of her. "I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself." He paused to unlock the cell door, instead of letting her out he left the door open and entered the cell. Nyx followed him with her eyes as he walked to the small bench opposite her little cot and sat down. He motioned for her to sit on the cot, still cautious, she sat down on the edge.

They sat for a minute studying one another. To Nyx, Rodolphus looked tired. His eyes were heavy with dark shadows underneath. She had once thought her father was the most handsome man in existence. Azkaban had not been kind to him. He was still a big man, but he did not have the same prideful posture she remembered. He stayed slumped over so he very much resembled a bear. His black hair was combed back and receding, he had a u-shaped scar running from the upper right corner of his forehead to his left eyebrow. What Nyx found most frightening were his eyes. They coldly looked over her, as a scientist might look over a mildly interesting specimen. They were black orbs, lacking any emotion, not even the insanity found in Bellatrix's eyes. Nyx thought it was like looking into the eyes of a dead man.

Finally he folded his hands in front of him and leaned forward, "Nyx, my little wild thing. It pains me to see you like this. You and me, we're not the sorts that are meant to be caged."

"I am nothing like you!" Nyx spat back venomously.

Rodolphus chuckled, "I think by the time the plans for you come to fruition you will find you are _exactly_ like me."

"What plans? What do you people want with me?"

"All in good time, love. For now, just stay here and be a good little girl. I promise you, this prison isn't permanent. We are simply keeping you here until you are... re-educated." He rose from the bench and turned toward the door.

"I will never be like you! I'd rather die!" Nyx stood up and dashed for the door. Rodolphus slammed it shut before she could escape and turned to face her through the bars. He reached one hand in and cupped her chin.

"That my daughter is why you were always my favorite."

* * *

**Sorry for the shortness! I'm not sure when the next update will be so I decided to go ahead and do half a chapter. **

**F.Y.I: I personally love it when authors tell me kind of how they picture their characters. I was listening to Rammstein while writing this and somehow Rodolphus Lestrange became **

**Till Lindemann. So ya, make of that what you will. **


	9. Benzin und Feuer Part 2

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people.**

**Happy Independence Day, America! And every other country, happy fourth day of July, I hope it was pleasant. **

**Here's the second part of the last chapter. More to come soon!**

_ Pain. Loads and loads of pain. Writhing on the forest floor screaming for help, but none will ever come. The dark figure above me laughs cruelly. Then I feel **it.** Something is in me, no I am something. I feel anger and hate towards everyone and everything. My insides turn black. For a moment I'm still and the pain is gone, but then it's replaced by something new. _

___Hunger._

Orion jumped out of sleep. He was sweating profusely and could not calm down his heart. _Deep breath. _He breathed deeply three times in a row, got up from his bed, and headed into the kitchen of the Black house.

This was an absolute disaster. As if a missing sister wasn't bad enough, Orion had started having these dreams. A part of him knew that it was the rest of his missing memory and he should go immediately to Dumbledore, but then the other part of him wanted to keep the dreams to himself. He told himself that he wanted to focus on finding Nyx before focusing on some nightmares, but deep down he knew the truth was that he did not want to face the implications of the memory.

_Alcohol_. Orion grinned as he pulled the scotch from the kitchen shelf. _At least Sirius keeps a decent stock of this stuff. Maybe self-medication runs in our blood. _As he poured the liquid he noticed his hands shaking. _Cigarette. _He reached his hand above the shelf and grasped a small pack. Good. They had survived Molly's most recent sweep. He sat down, lit up, and enjoyed his two favorite vices hoping it would clear his head. Or at least make him care a little less about what was in his head.

Truthfully, he was empty without Nyx. They were not joined at the hip, but they always knew where the other one was. Not knowing where she was was like missing a body part. He could function no better without Nyx than he could without an arm or leg.

_Nyx. _He took another puff of his cigarette and laid his head down on the table. _Where the hell are you?_


	10. Valleys and Mountains

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people.**

**I love all the 'favorite story' and 'story alert' notices I've been getting about this. Please remember to review as well. Even if it's something short. Even if it's to say you hate it. Whatever, just let me know how I am doing. **

**Thank you to all those who have reviewed : )**

_Where the hell are you?_ Charlie found himself asking that question yet again as he poured over maps and known death eater locations in his cottage on the preserve. After nearly a month he was still no closer to finding Nyx. What was worse, aside from himself and Orion, everyone else in the order had given up on her. Sirius had lost interest when Harry showed up, Remus became busy with werewolf things, and everyone else had other jobs to get back to. Even Dumbledore seemed to be ignoring the situation.

Orion was no help. Dumbledore forbade him to leave Grimmauld place and the rest of the Order made it their mission to see that that order was obeyed. He had tried escaping countless times and was thwarted each time by a different member. Culminating in one grand attempt involving expendable ears, elf heads, disillusionment charm, and a bottle of scotch, which ended with Mad-Eye locking Lestrange in the drawing room for two and a half days. Orion had since taken to drinking and smoking almost constantly and rarely leaving his room. According to Bill, he looked half-starved and completely insane. Mum was worried about him being around the younger ones, but Sirius insisted it was okay, that Orion was simply "in mourning". As if Nyx had died.

_She may very well be. _Charlie reminded himself. He had returned to Romania on Dumbledore's orders. To 'help recruit foreign wizards'. The problem? All the wizards he knew in Romania were so scared by the return of You-Know-Who that no one would trust him. So he sat in his smaller-than-Hagrid's cabin and tried to think through the possible whereabouts of Nyx. He had lied to Bill when he said he wasn't obsessing. Truthfully, he was completely obsessed. Maybe because they of what they had been through, maybe because she was a fellow dragon lover, whatever the reason, Charlie found something in himself pulling towards her. He spent his waking hours trying to find her, and dreamed about her while he slept.

The appearance of tawny owl at his window drew him out of his thoughts. The owl presented him with a letter then quickly flew off. Charlie opened the letter and saw some familiar looking, spidery handwriting, though he could not place to whom it belonged.

Ciudat Casa

Cel mai nordic oras

Doamnă de noapte

Salveaz-o, cu excepţia fratelui ei

Sfârşitul războiului

Charlie's rudimentary Romanian skills required him to read the scrip a few times and consult a Romanian to English dictionary before he had it translated. Even then, the words meant nothing to him.

The Strange House

The Northern Most City

The Lady of Night

Save her, save her brother

End the war

He tried speaking through it like a riddle._ The Strange House. The Strange. Lestrange! _That must mean Lestrange manor. _The Northern Most City._ That seemed pretty self-explanatory. But the Northern most city of what? England? Europe? He skipped that and kept going. _The Lady of Night. _That had to refer to Nyx. In Greek mythology Nyx was the goddess of night. _Save her, save her brother. End the war. _Save her. Got it. But Orion? He didn't need saved! He was safe in London. And End the war? That seems a bit much.

Charlie pulled the map showing the homes of notable death eaters towards him. He could not find a single house related to the Lestranges anywhere in a northern area. At the same time he wondered why the mysterious penman had written in Romanian. It wasn't really a common language. Unless, that in itself was a clue? The northern most city. Cel mai nordic oras. The term sounded familiar. He had heard it in an old gypsy story. What was it? Something about the mountain, Moldoveanu, and a city that was not a city. _Locul de nebunie _she had called it. _The place of madness. _It sounded to Charlie like some kind of ward wizards would put up. A spell that made muggle mountain climbers believe they had made it to some old medieval city on the peak of a mountain. Only to find that it wasn't really there. That would make them go back down the mountain and blame their lapse in sanity on altitude sickness.

Maybe The Strange House was the Northern Most City! It made sense now that he though of it. The Lestrange's would have wanted a house away from civilization in order to indoctrinated their children to the dark arts in peace. Nyx hated coming to Romania, but it had nothing to with the preserve or Charlie. It was because her family home was too close for comfort. Charlie imagined her coming to the preserve and occasionally looking towards the Carpathians wondering if her childhood home was still standing. Maybe that was why she constantly risked so much. It was her way of proving to her past that she was strong.

Charlie grabbed his wand. It was all he would need. Disapparating was no big deal. He had gone into the mountains dozens of times. He quickly scribbled a letter on parchment, addressed it to Bill, and sent it off to England with his owl.

_Bill, I found her. I'm going to Moldoveanu. Be ready for us. Don't know what sort of injuries we'll have. _


	11. Vernunft und Wahnsinn teil 1

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people.**

**Ah! Please don't kill me! I know it's been a while since an update, time really got away from me. **

**Thank you soooo much for the reviews. Let's make a deal, I'll update more often, you all review? Sound good? Mkay!**

_One bright day in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight. _Orion took another drag and tried to remember the rest of the poem Severus had told him years ago. _Back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot one another. _

He looked up when he heard the sound of running and laughter coming from the room above him. Probably those twins doing something again.

_A stone deaf auror heard the noise and came and killed those two dead boys. _

He could not remember anything past that and wondered if Snape would be around and willing to remind him. Not likely. He hadn't been around for a while, off doing something dangerous and mysterious. He was a dangerous and mysterious man that Severus Snape.

Orion finished his cigarette and reached for his ever present bottle of scotch. He tipped it back and nothing came out. Now when did that happen? How many bottles had he gone through?

He heard the door open and close and looked towards it to see a red headed man in the room with him. "Oh look," he mumbled to himself, "It's a Weasley."

"Orion." The man looked half-scared. He slowly approached the mantle Orion was leaning against. Orion looked up at him and tried, really, really tried to remember his name.

"Orion." The Weasley repeated his name. "I think Charlie's found her. I-i got a note from him." He produced a piece of parchment from his pocket.

"Bill! That's the one!" Orion grinned. He felt that remembering the Weasley's name was something to be proud of, considering how many of them there were.

"Did you hear me?" Bill put a hand on Orion's shoulder and tried to get him to look him in the eyes. "I think Charlie has found her. He sent me a note. Something about Moldoveanu. Orion, Charlie's found Nyx!"

Nyx? That wasn't right. No, this wasn't Bill. Just another damn dream. He shrugged the hand off his shoulder. "Get out dammit! Get the hell out! She's dead!" He pushed the not-Bill towards the door. Not-Bill turned just before he left room and Orion could see horror in his eyes. Good, that's one more dream he scared away. Orion closed the door behind the dream and returned to the mantle. He lit a fire with his wand in the fireplace below him and started on another cigarette.

_The mute psychotic shrieked in fright, with words of joy at this ghastly sight. _

Oh ya, that's how it ended.


	12. Vernunft und Wahnsinn teil 2

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people**

Bill stood outside Orion's room at Grimmauld Place and tried to collect himself. When was the last time anyone had checked in on that man? He had hoped that news of his sister would bring him out of his stupor, but Lestrange seemed to be beyond help. He was completely insane, that much was certain.

Bill folded the parchment with Charlie's note in his pocket and went in search of... anyone. Anyone who could tell him about Orion. He found Sirius and Molly along with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny in the upstairs drawing room. They were going through - that is to say trashing - priceless Black family heirlooms.

"Hey Sirius, could I talk to you a moment?" Bill figured it would be better to discuss the matter with someone a little less excitable than his mother. The fact that he considered a man who had spent thirteen years in Azkaban for murder more stable than his mother was mildly amusing to him.

Sirius looked relieved for an excuse to leave and followed Bill into the hallway. "What is it, Bill?"

"Has anyone seen Orion lately? I was just down there trying to talk to him about... something, and he seemed... um a little _off."_ Bill really wasn't sure how to explain what had just transpired to Sirius. How could he explain the complete insanity, the mumbling, and _those eyes?_

"He hasn't come out of that room in weeks. At least not that anyone can see, of course, he has to be coming out sometimes to get food, but he must sneak out while everyone else is in bed. I went in to see him about three nights ago. He's definitely not the same man that I first met. He reminded me of..." Sirius trailed off and his face seemed to darken, as if he was remembering a particularly bad nightmare.

"He reminded you of what exactly?"

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "It's insane. Really it is. Of course, insanity runs rather thick in our bloodline. Just look at his mother. However, this, this is just completely insane."

"_What?"_ Bill could tell the older man was rambling.

"I went to his room, just to see how he was doing. He doesn't enjoy being trapped here anymore than I do. Since Harry got here, I've been so focused on getting to know him more and enjoying time spent with him that I nearly forgot about Orion. So I brought some supper to his room, everything seemed to be going fine. In fact, he seemed completely normal. Then I mentioned something about Nyx, saying how sorry I was about what happened, and he sort of snapped. It was like he couldn't tell the difference between reality and a dream. He started yelling at me to get out, 'Get the hell out of my head' were his exact words. I tried to calm him down, but I began to see the only way to calm him would be to leave. I started to go, but not before I saw his eyes. He looked at me with pure hatred, his eyes were pitch black, even the parts that are supposed to be white, and I felt like, like..."

"Like you'd never be cheerful again. Like when a dementor is around." Bill finished for him in a monotone. Sirius had just described what he had seen no less than ten minutes ago. "Sirius, do you know if it's possible to be possessed by a dementor?"

Sirius opened his mouth to speak, but a large crash below stopped the words from coming out. Mrs. Weasley and the others came running out of the drawing room. "I swear if those twins have done something...!"

"It wasn't us, mum!" Fred and George came running down from the opposite direction of the noise.

A realization hit Bill, "The only one down there is Orion." He exchanged a worried look with Sirius.

"You lot stay up here, we'll go find out what that was." Sirius and Bill took off in the direction of Orion's room and Mrs. Weasley corralled her children along with Harry and Hermione back into the drawing room.

Once downstairs Sirius and Bill saw that the crash must have been caused by Orion's door, which had been blasted off. Orion himself was nowhere in sight, but they could feel a draft coming in from the front door. Neither man went to investigate, they were both frozen looking at the wall above the fireplace. Written in red - which both highly suspected was blood -

**_I sînt mergi la Casa Ciudat. Mă duc acasă_**

"I am going to the strange house. I am going home." Sirius translated for Bill. "It's Romanian."

"How do you know that?"

"Most purebloods insist their children learn a ridiculous amount of languages so they never look like fools in front of foreign wizards. My father was no exception."

"What do you think that means?" Bill turned away from the writing, he already suspected the answer.

"I believe it means Orion is going back to the home of his childhood. No one was paying attention to him anymore so he decided to make a break for it and in his insane state, along with whatever else it is going on with him, he's running back to where it all began."

Bill shut the door to the room and went to close the front door. Thankfully, none of the ruckus had awoken Mrs. Black's portrait. He heard Sirius assuring his mother and the teenagers everything was fine.

"Bill!" Sirius called down to him from the landing. "You need to get word to Dumbleore immediately. Tell him Orion is gone, but only mention the other thing if you see him face to face. DO NOT put that in a letter."

"Got it. I'll send him a brief note, then see if I can meet him." Bill headed out the door before his mother could come down and protest. He shut the front door of Grimmauld place and took a moment to lean against it and just breathe. It had only been about an hour since he received Charlie's note, but it seemed like that bit of parchment had just seriously changed things.

"Charlie brother," Bill spoke out loud for his own comfort more than anything, "I hope you know what you're doing."


	13. Family and Trust

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people**

**Funny story, I spent 2 hours writing this, then accidently deleted the whole thing without saving it!**

**Thank you to those of you reading this, I truly hope you are enjoying it. Sorry about my completely inconsistent updates. Please review!**

_What the hell am I doing?_ Charlie thought to himself for the millionth time. The climb up Moldoveanu had not been too difficult, thanks to a lot of magic, but now the truly difficult part was in front of him. He was staring at a gothic castle nearly the size of Hogwarts. The general architecture placed it to be much younger than the school, possibly built around the sixteen or seventeen hundreds. Charlie had expected a ridiculously large manor house, but a castle? Somehow that made the feat of breaking in even more momentous, and even if he did manage to get in, how could he ever expect to find Nyx? Careful not to get too close lest he set off a ward, Charlie began to walk around the building looking for any possible sign of weakness. The castle rose seamlessly out of the mountain and appeared to made out of the same volcanic rock, the large stained glass windows depicted gruesome scenes of death, the only entrance was a heavy drawbridge which when opened would span a large fissure in the rock. Lestrange Castle was a fortress.

Charlie slumped down behind a tree. He was completely out of ideas and had never felt so defeated. After all this time Nyx was so close, but impossible to get to. Frustrated, he began to knead his forehead but froze instantly at the sound of footsteps crunching across the thin layer of snow that blanketed the mountaintop. Cautiously, he risked a glance around the tree and was shocked to see Orion Black-Lestrange walking towards the castle. Had he received a note too?

Charlie threw a pebble towards Orion to get his attention. He stood up and slowly made his way to the man. "Hey! What are you doing here?" He whispered loudly once he was close enough. Orion turned on Charlie so the two were facing each other. Charlie nearly screamed at what he saw. Instead of the blue eyes that once drove the girls of Hogwarts mad, Orion's eye sockets contained shiny black orbs. His skin was pale and pulled across his bones as if he had not eaten in months. Worse than his appearance was the feeling that came over Charlie. He found himself reliving his most horrible moments - mum crying at her brother's funerals, Percy falling off his broom and breaking his leg and Charlie not being able to do anything, having to kill his first dragon, dad saying you-know-who returned, finding out Nyx was missing - all these scenes accompanied a feeling of dread, as if nothing good would ever happen again. Out of instinct, Charlie cast a patronus and watched as the silvery Norwegian Ridgeback flew at Orion. Orion turned and calmly walked to the castle, just as the drawbridge began to lower Charlie heard Orion speak in a voice that sounded like a hundred voices combined, "Mă duc acasă", _I am going home._

Charlie did not want to do it, but realized this might his only way in to the castle. He swallowed his fear and ran after Orion across the bridge. Once across, two heavy wooden doors opened to reveal a small group of black clad people waiting, Bellatrix Lestrange was in front.

"Orion! Darling, so glad you could make it!" Bellatrix said in a sickly sweet tone and she approached her son and began to lead him to an adjacent room. She turned to a tall man wearing a black cloak before leaving, "Rodolphus, take the Weasley to the dungeon!"

Lestrange Sr. nodded in acquiescence and performed a quick body bind on Charlie. Before he could fully comprehend what was happening, his body was being moved down a large hallway, followed by a winding set of stone stairs. At the end of the stairs they came to a set of wrought iron doors. Rodolphus muttered an incantation and the doors briefly glowed red before opening. Charlie felt himself thrown in and his body was released. Surprisingly, the older man did not follow him in, but shut the doors without even glancing at Charlie.

Charlie stood and surveyed his surroundings, only looking for one thing. He found her sitting in the corner of cell with an open door. Nyx was alarmingly thin, her hair hung limply in her face and around her shoulders, when she looked at him Charlie could see dark circles under her eyes. Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. Her eyes were still _hers_. The vibrant blue still held the same defiance and danger he had dreamed about so often in the last few weeks. He grinned despite himself. After all these weeks, the object of his obsession, and possibly affection, was right in front of him.

"Charlie?" Her voice was little more than a whisper and laced with doubt. Charlie rushed to the cell and knelt in front of her.

"Yes, it's me. I'm, um, here to rescue you."

Nyx snorted, "How's that working out for you?"

"Oh, I've still got a plan, just you wait." Charlie stood and pulled Nyx up with him. They were stood facing each other, his arm around her waist.

"What's the plan?" Nyx had some of her old confidence back in her voice.

"Well, you know, it's a good plan. First we get out of this dungeon, then we get out of the castle, then go back to London." Charlie smirked down at her. Nyx pulled away from him and crossed her arms.

"I like it. One change, we need to get my brother out of the castle as well."

"Nyx, Orion is... different. I don't think we'll get him to leave." Charlie did not want to risk her getting hurt fighting off deatheaters for her brother.

"I know, Father told me. He said Orion was coming and that what I've feared all these years has happened."

"Your father? I thought..." Charlie was thoroughly confused now.

"You thought my father was an evil bastard? He was, and still is, really. He had a rather large part in killing your uncles, and countless others, and I don't believe he regrets a single bit of it. However, I'm his daughter and heir." Nyx stopped, as if that explained everything.

"I still don't get it. Wouldn't Orion be his heir?" Charlie leaned against an iron bar.

"No, think about pureblood laws."

Charlie just looked questioningly at her.

"You know, blood importance and all that. You're a pureblood, you should know this!" Nyx threw her hands up in exasperation.

"We're not those kinds of purebloods. My parents never taught us we were better or worse than anyone else." Charlie said tersely.

Nyx softened a little. "Some pureblood names carry more weight than others. Black trumps Lestrange. Bellatrix married my father thinking that either Sirius or Regulus Black would carry on the name. When they didn't, she named Orion a Black. This made him the heir apparent to the Black house. That essentially was the same as telling her husband he had no son or heir. It put a death sentence on the name Lestrange. But he still had me. I'm most likely the last Lestrange, he doesn't want anything to happen to me. He wants me to get out of here, we were just waiting for the opportune moment. That's why neither you nor I are actually locked up."

"Wow." Charlie tried to wrap his mind around all this. He had never realized how complex the laws governing pureblood society were.

"So, if you're ready, let's get the hell out of here." Nyx sprinted to the iron doors and muttered the same incantation Rodolphus had used earlier. "Orion will be probably be in the grand ballroom, there's an exit just past that which will get us to the woods below the mountain. Then we can disapparate back to London. Don't worry, I'll be in charge of that this time." Nyx ended with a grin.

Charlie followed Nyx up the stairs, once at the top they turned towards the entryway. Noticing that Nyx apparently did not have a wand, Charlie pulled his out and walked closer to her. Their hands briefly touched and Charlie felt as if his whole body was lit on fire by that brief contact. He then brought himself back to the present situation and realized he might not even make it out of the castle to tell Nyx how he thought he felt about her.

"Nyx, listen, I don't know if I'll get another chance to say this, so I just wanted to..."

"Shhh!" Nyx cut him off and stopped directly in front of him, staring him down. "Tell me after we get out."

Before he knew it, Nyx had him backed against a wall with her arms around his neck and he was experiencing the most passionate, fiery, random kiss of his life. Too soon, Nyx pulled away and kept walking.

"Don't you find it strange we haven't run into anybody down this hall?" Nyx questioned and glanced at Charlie.

"There didn't seem to be many people here." Charlie could not bring himself to worry about anything. They didn't speak again until they entered the entrance hall.

"Guess they were all busy." Charlie motioned around the empty room and headed for the door. He was suddenly thrown across the room and slammed against a wall.

"Guess again, Mr. Weasley." Bellatrix's voice rang echoed across the room.

Dizzily getting to his feet, Charlie saw Bellatrix and Rodolphus barring the way out. He looked around and found that Nyx had also been thrown against the wall on the other side of the hall doorway. Her gaze was not on her parents, instead she was peering earnestly to the left of Charlie.

"Ri?" She slowly rose up and began to walk towards the doors on the left side of the room. Charlie glanced around, expecting to see Orion, but he was not in the room. The door Nyx was staring at was closed, she opened the door and standing just inside was her twin.

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Bellatrix screamed at her daughter and attempted to send a curse her way. Charlie was quick this time and deflected the spell. Nyx walked up to Orion and placed one hand on each of his cheeks. It was like watching a decomposing corpse come back to life. Orion's skin filled out and flushed with color, his eyes faded back to blue, he even seemed to grow muscle mass in a matter of seconds.

"Nyx?" Orion looked pleadingly at his sister. "Can we go home?" Nyx nodded and turned back to room. The twins held hands and walked to the door their parents - mainly their mother - was still guarding.

For once, Bellatrix seemed at a loss for words and genuinely frightened. She didn't seem to realize how much power her daughter actually had. Orion raised his wand as they approached and made his mother fall to the floor in a full body-bind.

"Charlie!" Nyx called out. "It's time to go!" Charlie ran to the door.

Rodolphus was still standing in front of the exit. His face was unreadable, no doubt the result of practiced pureblood stoicism. Instead of mounting an attack, he simply moved out of his children's way and walked out of the room.

Once outside, the twins stopped in the middle of the drawbridge and let go of one another's hands.

"This fissure is actually a portal, similar to the one to get on platform nine and three quarters." Orion addressed Charlie. "Jump off the bridge, and you'll land in the woods below the mountain."

"And from there, we can return to Grimmauld place." Nyx finished, but looked surprised when Orion spoke again.

"No, not there. Drop Charlie off if you want, but you and I are going to our godfathers."

"Then so is Charlie." Nyx got the defiant look in her eye.

"No, he doesn't need to be a part of this." Orion was equally defiant.

"He spent weeks looking for me, then climbed a fucking mountain and somehow broke into Lestrange Castle to save me! Whether or not he _nee__ds_ to be, he _is_ a part of this now!" Nyx was dangerously close to yelling. Charlie really wasn't sure what to do with himself, he settled for counting the grain lines in the wooden bridge and wondering what the hell was going on.

Orion looked Nyx over then seemed to come to a realization, "Fine! But when it comes to it, his blood is on _your_ hands. Explain that to his family!" With one last glare Orion jumped off the bridge and disappeared in the rock.

"You just have to trust the magic, like at King's Cross. Here," Nyx grabbed a hold of Charlie's hand. "We'll jump together."


	14. Secrets and Promises

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people**

**LOTS of dialogue in this chapter, sorry if that bores some of you. But here's a teaser for the next chapter, lots of action and an ooey gooey love scene that will make your heart melt! **

The disapparation out of Romania went much better than Nyx and Charlie's first attempt. They were currently walking behind Orion down a gloomy brick street which would lead to the twins' godfather's house. Charlie wasn't sure who their godfather was, but judging by their parents and the general atmosphere of this neighborhood, he probably wasn't cheeriest chap.

"Shouldn't we go tell Dumbledore what just happened?" Charlie leaned in close and muttered to Nyx.

"No, we need answers first. Answers we think only this man can answer." Nyx sped up so she was shoulder to shoulder with her brother, leaving Charlie a few feet behind.

Finally, they came to stop in front of a dilapidated brick home. Orion knocked on the door and stood back with Charlie and Nyx to wait. It was only a few seconds before they heard the click of a lock and the door creaked open.

"Well," Severus Snape took in his visitor's travel-worn appearances, "This is quite the surprise." He didn't really sound surprised, though. The potions teacher opened the door and motioned for the three younger people to enter the home. Once inside they found themselves in a cave-like sitting room, the walls covered in books and the furniture threadbare, it thad the air of place hardly inhabited.

"Some drinks?" Severus turned to the trio after locking his front door back.

"I'll have some whiskey." Nyx said absently as she made herself comfortable on a cushy armchair.

"Just water for me." Orion was equally nonchalant, perusing a section books behind the sofa.

"And you, Mr. Weasley?" Snape raised and eyebrow at Charlie, who was the only one looking uncomfortable with the situation.

"I-um, some whiskey as well?" He just didn't feel right giving drink orders to his former professor.

"Of course." Severus gave one of his trademark leers and swept out of the room.

Charlie rounded on Nyx once he gone. "Why didn't you tell me Snape was your godfather!"

Nyx barely looked up from the book she had grabbed off the coffee table, "Oh, did we not? Sorry about that. Orion," She turned her head towards her brother, "Sit down, won't you? All that pacing is going to drive me mad. You too, Weasley."

Orion did a comical jump over the back of the sofa and landed on a cushion, Charlie rigidly sat in a wooden chair to the left of Nyx. The woman's behavior had Charlie completely flabbergasted. Only an hour or so ago she was kissing him and holding hands, now he was back to 'Weasley' and she was back to being cold and shut off.

Severus returned with their drinks, and a glass of wine for himself, and sat in the arm chair opposite Nyx.

"Well, to what do I owe this visit?" He sounded friendly enough, but there was a hint of wariness in his voice.

"Answers, Severus." It was Orion who replied, "You owe us answers."

Severus sighed and sipped his drink. "I can see where perhaps it is time to tell you and your sister some things, but what does Charlie have to do with any of it?"

Charlie started slightly at the sound of his name, he had lost himself in his thoughts and solved at least one small mystery. "You already know don't you?" He leaned towards Snape. "After all, it was you who sent me that letter."

Severus grinned, "If only your youngest brothers were as smart as you. Yes, the note came from me. I couldn't help but notice you were the only one of those dunderheads in the Order still looking for Nyx. When I received information on her whereabouts I sent it to you."

"And it had to be coded to prevent your cover being blown if it was intercepted." Charlie was relieved to have that puzzled solved.

"Exactly. Now, I presume you went to Lestrange Castle and saw all that transpired there with Orion."

"I- I did." Charlie wasn't really sure _what _he had seen happen to Orion.

"Wait!" Nyx cut in. "How do you know something happened with 'Ri?"

"I heard it from a fellow death eater just before you came. It seems the Dark Lord was en route to the castle when you escaped. I'm told he punished your parents severely."

"Which brings us to why we're here." Orion set his now empty glass on the coffee table in front of him. "Why does You-Know-Who still want me? I thought I was a blood traitor! I thought being disowned would get him to stay away!"

Severus sighed and sat his glass down as well. "You have to understand, He does not see you as a person. Your personal politics and ethics mean nothing, you are a weapon. Now, you are a weapon not in his control. Besides, it's more your sister he's after."

Nyx choked on the whiskey she had just sipped. "ME! What the hell does he want with me? Orion's the..." But she silenced herself before saying what Orion was.

"Orion's the... what exactly?" Charlie looked over at Nyx and spoke in a cold, harsh tone he would normally not associate himself with. "You said back in Romania that I was a part of this now. So what, exactly, did I see back at the castle?"

Nyx picked up on his change of tone and sat back in her chair a little. She looked fearfully from Orion back to Charlie, who was fixing her with a stare. Severus saved her by clearing his throat.

"What you saw Charlie, is the result of a twisted mind under the delusion that humans can be manipulated by magical means to become more powerful than they are. When he was a child, Orion was forced to partake of a particularly evil potion which was supposed to endow him with the strengths of a dementor. Instead, he only received their weakness. That is, he received their hunger. Their thirst for human souls, along with the strange phenomenon which takes the joy out of anyone that comes near them."

"But you're not like this all the time." Charlie spoke directly to Orion. "I mean, you never had any problems in Hogwarts."

"That's because Nyx was there. We don't have to be near each other, but as a long as I can _feel _her, her presence or something, I don't know exactly how to explain it, but as long as it's there, I'm fine. Or if she's around and I... turn, she can bring me back to normal." Orion's hands were shaking. Up until he told Dumbledore, he had rarely spoken of this to anyone, now it seemed like everyone was privy to his darkest of secrets.

"Which is why the Dark Lord wants her so badly." Severus spoke up, seeing Orion's discomfort. "He believes, Nyx, that you may have the ability to completely control all dementors without the use of a patronus."

"But that's just ridiculous!" Nyx protested, "I can't even-" She cut herself off and clenched her forearm, Orion did the same to his. Severus pulled up his sleeve and saw that his Dark Mark was glowing. Charlie could see blood starting to seep through the sleeves of Nyx and Orion's shirts. He realized their Dark Mark scars must bleed whenever the death eater's tattoos were activated. The thought made his stomach turn.

"You need to get out of here now!" Seversus yelled. "Disapparate out directly out of my house and get to the Burrow!"

"We won't-"

"NOW NYX!" Severus yelled at his goddaughter. Orion hugged Nyx to himself and disapparated. Before Charlie could leave, Severus grabbed his arm.

"Weasley, you know more than Dumbledore now. Please, please take care of Nyx!" Severus' pleading face was in direct contrast to the stern professor Charlie remembered.

"I will sir, I promise." Charlie tried to look reassuring and did not point out just how difficult that could be. Severus let go of his arm and Charlie focused on an image of his childhood home and felt the familiar pressure of being squeezed through space.


	15. Chaos and Peace

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people**

**Ah! don't kill me! Sorry this took so long, I was getting adjusted to a new university and time just got away from me. Promise I will never take that long again. Please Review! I'm not overly happy with this chapter, but I wanted to get SOMETHING published!**

Orion and Nyx landed just outside the burrow, Charlie followed shortly after and ran into his house with hardly a glance at the two of them. He yelled for any member of his family before realizing they were all at Grimmauld Place.

"Charlie?" Charlie turned at the sound of his brother's voice.

"Percy? What are you doing here?" He knew that Percy was avoiding the family.

"I came back for some things. I figured everyone would be asleep and I could just sneak in, but there's no one here."

"Ya, they're all... gone." _They're all in hiding while fighting Voldemort and you should be there too, you little shit _was what Charlie really wanted to say.

"Who's that?" Percy pointed behind Charlie to the twins who had just entered the house.

"Nyx and Orion Lestrange. It's sort of a long story. Listen, you should probably get back to London. I don't think the Burrow is exactly safe anymore." Even though he was as annoying as hell, Charlie didn't want Percy hurt in a war he was not even fighting in.

"Right. Ya." Percy trailed off.

Something about his demeanor was disturbing Charlie. He wasn't being pompous or self-assured at all. "Hey Perce," Charlie casually leaned against the wall, blocking the door and used his brother's much hated nickname. _ "_How's the job going?"

"It's fine. Listen, I really should get back to London." Percy made a move to leave the room, but Charlie was too and had his wand pointed at his throat after barely one step.

"Charlie! What the hell?"

"Who are you? You're not my brother!" Charlie felt his heart break at the sight of his wand against his brother, even though he was sure it wasn't actually Percy.

"You know, you really should have just let me go." Not-Percy turned a cold glare to Charlie and had a wand pulled out before Charlie realized he was reaching for one. Nyx and Orion both pointed their wands at the Percy impostor.

"Who are you?" Orion demanded.

The stranger did not respond but instead threw a jinx at Charlie who crumpled to the floor. Nyx attempted a curse but it was blocked, Orion's attempts were also thwarted. The man ran for the door followed by the twins.

"No Nyx!" Orion tried to stop her, but his sister ran all the way out of the house. She was so focused on the pursuit that she didn't see what Orion did. She didn't see the multitude of dementors slowly descending from above.

"NYX!" Orion let out a strangled cry as he watched the dementors crowd in on Nyx. The mystery man disapparated and Nyx finally looked up to see the black hooded figures. Her sparrow patronus quickly joined Orion's raven, but neither was able to hold their form in the presence of so many.

Orion began to feel his sickness taking over. He smelled Charlie's sould inside, could almost taste his emotions. He fell to the ground, not longer having the strength to support his own weight. He felt blood flow from his palms where his fingernails were digging in. There might have been pain, but he couldn't feel it, all his energy was focused on not giving in. Through the slits in his eyes he could just see Nyx. Somehow, she was forcing the dementors away. Her arms were raised and her eyes were black as Orion's sometimes became.

Everything went black.

He felt something on his face. It was hands, his sister's hands. The hunger started to dissipate. Everything came into focus and Nyx's eyes were directly above him. She pale, and bleeding from her nose. She fell down beside him.

* * *

Nyx was not sure how she did it. She imagined the dementors were just Orion, all she needed to do was calm them down and they would leave. She placed her hands on Orion and then the world started to spin and she was falling.

* * *

It was like waking up in Romania again. A flash of fire. Weasley fire. And there was Charlie beside her bed.

"Hey" She said weakly.

"Hey" He smiled back at her.

"Orion? How long?" She couldn't get a full question out.

"Orion's fine. He's sleeping upstairs. You've been out for about three hours. It's sunrise." He pulled back a curtain to show the new sun and brought her a cup of water which she gratefully accepted.

"Long night." She smiled Charlie.

* * *

Charlie wished she wouldn't look at him like that. He wished he could just hate her in peace. He wished the morning sun didn't make her eyes glow and send spectrums of light dancing off her hair.

"Listen, what happened last night?" He needed to get things in the clear.

"I-I don't really know. There were so many of them and I just..."

"Not, I mean at the castle. Just before we ran into your parents."

Nyx giggled. "Of everything that happened you want to know why I kissed you"

"I just need to figure you out."

"I don't have myself figured out, Charlie. Listen, I kissed you because I wanted to know what it would be like. But honestly, we can't really go any further than that. With this shitstorm we've found ourselves in. I just really need to focus on my brother right now."

Charlie grimmaced and turned away from her for a moment. Than an idea hit him. "Can you walk?"

"I-yes. I guess so." Nyx looked hesitant.

"Come here, I want to show you something. It's just in the back." Charlie helped her out of the bed and regretted it slightly. Last night had not been kind to her. Her blue jeans were ripped, she was too skinny, her hair was matted. All the same, he took her hand and led her to the backyard of his family home. They stopped in front of a tree Charlie bent down and moved some dirt out of the way to reveal two stones.

"You can't really see it now, but these stones have my parents names on them. They put them here just after they were married. Dad said they were given to them as a wedding present from my mom's brothers. Mum keeps them more as a memorial to my uncles than anything else."

"Charlie, I don't understand."

Charlie stood back up and faced Nyx. "Your family killed my family. You have always been a bitch to me, you're spoiled and selfish, and complete enigma."

"Charlie! Look, I'm sorry I kissed you! Sorry I don't understand much beyond my world, sorry I have secrets! What is your point?" Nyx was nearly yelling.

Charlie took a step closer to her, they were inches from each other now. "My point is, I should hate you. I shouldn't be helping you, I should be in London with my family. My point is, I can not leave you. Every step I take away from you I just get drawn back. And I think you feel the same way about me and it is bullshit to try and ignore that. So my point Nyx, my point is..." Charlie stepped back a few paces. "I'm here. I'm going to help you through this and after this is over I want to be with you. I can no longer see a future without you. But if you can, if you can leave after all this and not think a second thought about me, then fine. I'll still help, but I'll leave back to the preserve and pretend nothing ever happened. Either way, no more bullshit. No more games."

Nyx had started to cry during his talk. She merely looked up at him and nodded. That was all the encouragement Charlie really needed. He stepped back in, this time for their second kiss. It was sweeter than the first, but still with the taste of spice he associated with Nyx. They may have stood their holding each other for days or minutes, it really didn't matter. What did matter was that when they did break apart, Nyx smiled at him. It was the first real smile he had seen on her. No traces of sadness or sarcasm, just contentment and peace.


	16. Rest and Recuperation

**I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise. They belong to J.K Rowling and probably some other people**

**Yay! I actually have time to write something that is NOT for a class! Enjoy and review!**

**Eh, this chapter's a little boring, but DON'T skip it! **

"Okay, so let's go over this again." Bill was pacing in a room at Grimmauld place while Charlie sat in an armchair. "Dementors attacked our house. Percy is missing. Orion is some hybrid dementor with Voldemort's blood, Nyx can apparently control dementors, and, oh ya, you're in love with her. Did I get that all right?"

"You, ah, forgot the Lestrange castle part. But other than that it's perfect!" Charlie mockingly grinned at his older brother. He had chosen to only tell Bill about what had transpired in the past few days mainly out of fear of what his mother would say, but also out of fear of Dumbledore. It wasn't that he did not trust the man, he just didn't want to face him and tell him that he had disobeyed his orders and searched for Nyx and learned a heap of information that the headmaster did not have.

"And no one else in the Order knows any of this?" Bill asked and Charlie nodded in the affirmative.

"We need to tell Mum and Dad about Perce." Charlie was completely broken up about his brother. Percy had always been a prat, but he was still Charlie's responsibility which made it Charlie's fault he was gone.

"Dad already knows. He pulled me aside last night, he doesn't want Mum to know until we find out something definite." Bill was equally upset, he viewed all his siblings as being under his watch and couldn't figure out how Percy had slipped through the cracks.

Both men turned when they heard a knock on the door. Orion walked in sheepishly.

"I thought I destroyed this place." He smirked a little as he looked around the room.

"You nearly did. My Mum had it cleaned up in no time though." Bill was trying to avoid Orion after seeing him as messed up as he had been.

"I'm sorry she had to do that." Orion be came suddenly serious. Charlie made a sound like he was starting to protest but was silenced by Orion's hand in the air. "No really, I'm sorry for dragging you all in to this. I went to Dumbledore thinking he could help and I never imagined it would disrupt your family like this."

"I think that maybe that's the point of the Order though." Bill interjected. "I mean, you and Nyx would not be able to handle this alone. Dumbledore has a million other problems, so you have us. Besides that, we knew you couldn't really be evil. I mean, Charlie shared a room with you for seven years, I think he would have noticed if you had tried eating his soul at any point."

Charlie and Orion laughed at that. "All this really makes me wish we were back at Hogwarts, you know when the worst thing to happen was that time we saw Professor Sprout drunk."

"Hey, don't make light of that, it still gives me nightmares!" All three were laughing at the memory when a third voice joined the conversation.

"As precious as this trip down memory lane is, I have some information." The three looked up to see Nyx standing in the doorway. She was finally cleaned up and wearing a pair of muggle jeans and a t-shirt.

"Hey Nyx. You talked to Severus? Was he okay?" Orion was the first to regard his sister. Nyx walked in and sat on the arm of the chair Charlie was in.

"Ya, he's fine. The death eaters were just coming to his house to see if we had been there, of course he said 'no'. I talked to him about some of his theories of what's going on with us."

Bill and Orion took seats across from Charlie and Nyx. "Does he think he can cure me?" Orion looked up hopefully.

"Afraid not. He says the kind of magic used in that sort of potion is too binding to be reversed. He does, however, think he can get rid of our dark marks. Apparently mommy dearest and her boss did some work of old magic to get them on us. Severus thinks they were meant to be tracking mechanisms, but that didn't work. Instead, they act just like the deatheaters dark marks except, more painful. He thinks he can devise a potion to erase them, but he has to do it in a way that ensures no one on the other side knows it was him. Also, he spoke to Dumbledore and we are instructed to not mention this to other members of the Order. As far as they know I was kidnapped my our mother in an attempt to make me join the dark side and Orion just went temporarily insane as our family is prone to do."

"So we're just supposed to pretend none of this happened?" Charlie asked incredulously.

"That's what it sounds like, and we're supposed to avoid dementors at all costs."

"Oh really, that's a shame. I was really hoping to take one out for tea tomorrow." Orion sarcastically responded and Nyx rolled her eyes at him.

"DINNER!" Molly's voice followed by the sound of teenagers rushing towards food stopped the conversation. Bill, Orion, and Charlie headed for the door by Nyx stopped Charlie.

"You two go on ahead. We'll be in in a minute." Bill and Orion left with a knowing glance at each other.

Charlie leaned in and lightly kissed Nyx. "You know, I bet we could steal about twenty minutes and no one would notice." Charlie grinned.

"Oh really, that's all it takes you? Twenty minutes?" Nyx laughed and reached up for another kiss. "I actually wanted to ask you something."

"Mm"

"Have you, um, told your mother? About us?" Nyx leaned a bit away from Charlie.

"Ah, no. I was hoping Bill would bring that crazy french girl from the bank around first, then I would introduce you and it wouldn't seem so bad."

"Right, well. I kind of live in the same house as you and your mother, soooooooo, I think she's going to get wise eventually. Don't you think it's better coming from us?"

Charlie sighed, "You know, in a normal family that might be true. But we're talking about Weasleys here. Just trust me, it's better to wait a while... and hope the twins don't catch us and..."

"What? Blackmail you?" Two identical voices cut Charlie off.

"FRED! GEORGE!" Charlie yelled at the two of them.

"What?" Fred asked - as innocently as he could pull off. "Mum asked us to find out what was taking you so long."

"I guess we found out, didn't we Fred."

"We did indeed, George."

"Listen you guys can't say anything!" Charlie was slightly panicking. The twins took off at run for the kitchen and Charlie chased after them. Nyx waited a little bit and, laughing, headed for the kitchen.

"Oh, there you are, dear. Here, there's a seat next to Harry open. Now, sit down and put some meat on those skinny bones."

Nyx smiled and sat next to Harry, which was slightly awkward as she had never talked to the teenager before.

"Hello." He said shyly.

"Hi." Nyx smiled at him and hoped she didn't look too much like the mug shot of her mother.

"Do you know why Charlie was yelling at the twins?" Charlie's younger brother... Nyx couldn't remember his name. Ryan? Ralph? Roland? Something like that, asked. Nyx looked down the table and caught Charlie's eyes.

"I have absolutely no idea." She giggled a bit and dug in to the lasagna Molly had just passed to her.

* * *

"FINE!" Bellatrix screamed to no one in particular, although Narcissa was in the room with her. "If the Dark Lord still thinks Orion is of some use we'll find him. However, that girl is completely useless. Rodolphus is NOT getting her. I will end her pretty little life and then Orion will have no distractions to serving the Dark Lord's purpose!"

Rodolphus Lestrange was listening to his wife's rant from the bedroom upstairs and decided it was time he played a more active role in his daughter's life. To start, it was time to have a little chat with her godfather...


	17. Home and Family

_The Hungarian Horntail surged forward and blew a stream of fire at Charlie. He was not hit directly, but the heat singed his arm hair. Up ahead he saw her. Nyx was tied up against a large wall; blood was dripping from her forehead and stomach. Charlie continued to run but did not get any closer. A black-cloaked figure began floating beside him as he ran. _

'_You'll never reach her, she's going to die' it told him. _

_Charlie was suddenly right in front of Nyx. Something was wrong, though. She seemed fine. Nyx looked up at him with blood red eyes, _

'_You never needed to save me, Charlie. I've been with them all along.' _

_Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange appeared and put their arms around their daughter. Charlie yelled something incomprehensible before Rodolphus raised his wand and a flash of green shot out at Charlie….._

Charlie bolted upright from his bed in Grimmauld Place. Next to him, Nyx slept stirred in her and slowly opened her eyes. Charlie breathed a sigh of relief that they were the comforting blue he remembered and not red.

"Everything okay?" Nyx sleepily mumbled.

"Ya, just a dream, babe. Everything's going to be fine." Charlie laid back down and Nyx put her head on his chest.

"It sure feels that way, doesn't it?" Nyx asked before drifting back to sleep.

Charlie hardly slept the rest of the night. His dreams were filled with Nyx dying in various ways, hooded figures, red and black eyes, and a constant fear that some new, dark terror was aiming at them.

* * *

The next morning found Nyx alone with Molly fixing breakfast for the army of people inhabiting Grimmauld Place.

"Goddammit!" Nyx exclaimed as she failed once again at flipping a pancake, resulting in a batter covered floor. Molly lazily pointed her wand and the mess was cleaned with a simple, 'scorgify'.

"Sorry, Mrs. Weasley. I'm not really good at this sort of thing." Nyx said sheepishly and resolved herself to the only kitchen task she knew; making coffee.

"It's fine dear. Although you should know Charlie loves a hearty breakfast." Molly grinned as she finished off a batch and moved on the bacon. Nyx nearly dropped her cup of coffee.

"I... what?" All formal speech had left her. Charlie had promised he wouldn't tell...

"Honestly Nyx. I'm his _mother_! I've known about it since he ran off to look for you the night you went missing. Really, I'm just glad it's out in the open now, there are far too many secrets in this house." Molly had put the pan of bacon on the stove and was now staring Nyx down. It was then Nyx saw a bit of the warrior mother type she suspected Molly of being. "I warn you, if you _ever_ hurt him, I will have your head. He's a good man, my Charlie. No offense meant but, your history doesn't speak well for you."

"Mrs. Weasley," Nyx chose her words carefully. "I promise I've turned over a new leaf. I... I'm a better person now and I am not my mother. You can trust me, I'd rather die than see Charlie hurt."

Molly smiled and gave Nyx a warm, mother hug with a pleasant, 'I know dear' thrown in.

Charlie walked in on the hug, "Did I miss something?"

Nyx laughed and walked over to place a kiss on his lips. _This is what a home feels like. _

* * *

"I want in, Severus." Rodolphus Lestrange nursed a glass of wine in Snape's sitting room.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Rodolphus." Severus was nervous. He had spent his adult life refining the art of being a good spy. Above all else, he knew when he was in danger, and he could sense it now.

"Yes you do. I know the Dark Lord is not your only master. I want out from under him, I want my old life back. Before he was involved."

"Trade sides? What, would you have mudbloods and blood traitors ruling the world?" Severus was putting on his best mask of vileness.

"Of course not. However, what kind of world do you think the Dark Lord is trying to create? What happens if he wins? He will be Lord of all the underground, eventually the muggle world as well. Family names will not matter. He will destroy all of us in his quest for power. It's not a matter of sides, it is a matter of survival."

"So what are you expecting of me?" This was getting to be too much. Never in his years of being a double agent had Severus ever run into a situation like this.

"I'm going to help you bring him down"


End file.
